Women’s style: Susan Tabak
@Susan_Tabak
Fashion writer + self-described luxury expert
Number of loyal followers: 2,763
Why you should be among them: A fashion writer who divides her time between New York’s Upper East Side and Paris, Tabak’s comments are like a steady stream of style missives from a chic aunt. Her tweets often link to pics she’s taken of favorite fashions on the road — at press time she was in Italy — making it feel like you’re following a savvy personal shopper. No wonder: That was her former career, and she still provides the service to a lucky few, for a cool $3,000 a day.
Sample tweets:
* “Luxury is an overused word. People are looking for exclusivity.”
* “Rick Owens boutique right across the street from Atelier. How fun.”
* “You’d think with all the restaurants in NYC I try to diversify. But no. I am off to the Monkey Bar.”
* “Best shoe repair shop in the world. They have saved my favorite shoes to make them brand new. http://4sq.com/9u8fpX.”
Night life: Andrew W.K.
@AndrewWK
Musician, Santos Party House nightclub co-owner
Number of followers: 25,693
Why you should be among them: Does Andrew W.K. really live as hard and rock as hard as he wants you to think he does? Probably not, but this highly constructed persona’s tweets are entertaining whether you’re out on the town or making it a Netflix night. And it never hurts to know which cool musician is playing at his downtown venue.
Sample tweets:
* “PARTY TIP: When it’s time to party, always party hard
. . . but not a minute before or after!”
* “PARTY TIP: Don’t be afraid to be a fool. A smart person realizes that we’re all fools — no one knows what’s really going on.”
Men’s style: Derek Blasberg
@derekblasberg
Fashion writer
Number of followers: 8,813
Why you should be among them: A writer/editor for Condé Nast titles, Blasberg could spend all his tweets self-promoting, but he mixes in witty quips about NYC style and “The Golden Girls.” It’s no wonder he’s an accessory of socialites, who wear him on their arms at soirees. The rest of us can bring him to the party on our smartphone.
Sample tweets:
* “With my mom at dinner at Balthazar, trying to tell her the woman wearing Hanes sweat pants and high heels is super chic. She’s not buying it.”
* “Got a haircut at Astor Place Barbers. Said I wanted it long on top, cleaner sides and back. ‘Like Zach Morris?’ my guy asked. EXACTLY!”
Celebrity:
Lady Gaga
@LadyGaga
Singer, songwriter
Number of followers: 3,513,590
Why you should be among them: If you’re going to follow any celeb, make it New York’s own. Twitter’s postmodern missives oddly suit our most po-mo celeb. Addressing her little “monsters” — Gaga for fans — she’s pleasantly weird and a refreshing alternative to celeb tweeters pretending to be average joes. (Ahem, Ashton Kutcher!)
Sample tweets:
* “Once you kill a cow, you gotta make a burger.”
* “Just saw three little monsters walk out of a chapel across the street from arena. Pre-monsterball confession or Easter? AMAZING. SO TWISTED.”
Comedian: Mike Birbiglia
@Birbigs
Writer, comedian
Number of followers: 30,166
Why you should be among them: Lots of comedians in the city are on Twitter, but Birbiglia, an everyman and regular NPR commentator, stands out for calling attention to the absurdities of modern life.
Sample tweets:
* “I’m so glad john mayer remade ‘free fallin’ i always liked the original, but felt like it was missing something . . . oh yeah, nothing.”
* “the guy next 2 me is saying very loudly into his phone ‘THIS IS JUST BETWEEN YOU AND ME.’ i feel like I’m in the loop as well.”
Food: Ruth Reichl
@RuthReichl
Former Gourmet editor
Number of followers: 29,010
Why you should be among them: You want to hate former Gourmet editor Reichl for twittering about her delicious life — Fabulous dinners at the city’s best restaurants! Charming meals in the country! — but she’s such a beautiful writer, you can’t begrudge her. In fact, her envy-inducing tweets have even merited their own regular category on Eater.com: “Ruth Reichl Wins.” Thankfully, her salivating followers do, too.
Sample tweets:
* “Tenderness defined: tripe at Maialino. Zinged with mint and powdered with pecorino, the meat melts into tomato sauce. So soft.”
* “Strangely earthy on rainy spring night: spaghetti tangle of mushrooms, asparagus, shallots. Touch of lemon. Shower of cheese. So fine.”
Parenting: Liz Gumbinner
@Mom101
Mommy blogger
Number of followers: 8,585
Why you should be among them: A working mom — she’s an advertising exec and co-founder of hip mama Web site coolmompicks.com — Gumbinner is funny even if you don’t have kids.
Sample tweets:
* “Oh geez schools, what the heck is proof of residency for a 5 year old? I could photograph her crap all over our floor, how about that?”
* “Evidently Jesus died so that chelsea market shoppers could elbow you in the ribs for the last chocolate rabbits.”
ART WORLD: Paddy Johnson
@artfagcity
Founder Art Fag City blog
Number of followers: 4,025
Why you should be among them: “I tend to call bulls – – t,” says the 34-year-old Bedford Stuyvesant resident and L Magazine columnist of her approach to covering the city’s contemporary art world. Johnson came to blogging and twittering after getting her MFA in painting from Rutgers. She also worked at — and was fired from — many a gallery job, so she certainly knows her stuff. She’s also not afraid to call out those who don’t have a clue, as she did when Gawker attempted a regular arts column.
Sample tweets:
* “I’m just skeptical of openings sponsored by Acura, okay?”
* “Bravo’s new reality show ‘Work of Art’ won’t embarrass the art world.”